Sunday, July 16, 2017

Book Review: 'Best Practices in Talent Management: How the World’s Leading Corporations Manage, Develop, and Retain Talent' (Co-Edited by Marshall Goldsmith and Louis Carter)

Ultimately, the effectiveness of best practices depends on
those who execute them

As co-editors Marshall Goldsmith and Louis Carter explain,
the material in this book focuses on 14 dynamic enterprises (i.e. Avon
Products, Bank of America, Corning, CES, Ecolab, GE, IRS, Kaiser
Permanente/Colorado Region, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Murray & Roberts, Porter
Novelli, Southern Company, and Whirlpool) that were selected by the Best
Practice Institute because they have succeeded in implementing talent
enhancement programs – “although, to be fair, to call them ‘programs’ is not
entirely accurate, as they are in reality vital strategic components integrated
into the companies’ core operating values.” Indeed, had they not been so
integrated, neither they nor their companies could become, much less remain,
vital and dynamic. There is a separate chapter devoted to each of the 14,
written by one or more of the contributors who were invited to participate. It
is important to keep in mind that in an age when several companies “built to
last” haven’t and others once great are no longer even good, at least a few of
the 14 in this book may no long be exemplars of anything, except perhaps of how
quickly an organization can become weakened in one way or another.

I appreciate the material provided in the Conclusion
introduced by this explanation: “In order t0 present a fuller and more complete
picture of the best practices in talent management, in March 2009 the Best
Practice Institute [of which Cater is founder and CEO] released results from a
groundbreaking survey of some of America’s most dynamic companies.” An overview
is provided in the Conclusion. Then in the Epilogue, William J. Rothwell
suggests several “key take-away points” from each of the 14 mini-case studies.
From Ecolab, for example, “This case is outstanding for illustrating how a
talent program can be built on, and leverage, the organization’s culture and
values. These values include, according to the case, (1) spirit; (2) pride; (3)
determination; (4) commitment; (5) passion; and (6) integrity. The talent
program was based on internal interviews of company executives.” Obviously, brief take-away points merely
serve as triggers to recall insights that are developed in much greater depth,
in context.

Presumably Goldsmith and Carter are responsible for the
reader-friendly format that most of the contributors adopt (with only minor
modification) and graphic devices such as Figures that consolidate a wealth of
information about an especially important subject such as Avon’s “Talent Investment
Matrix” (Page 6), Corning’s “Program Snapshot – Week One” (50), Ecolab’s
“Success Indicators for Business Drivers at Each Pipeline Level” (90), “IRS
Leadership Core Responsibilities” (119), McDonald’s “Performance Drivers”
(162), and Microsoft’s “Key Stakeholder Roles for HiPo Coaching program” (196).
Because they are best practices, these and others examined in the book should
serve as exempla that suggest possibilities rather than as templates to be
adopted without revision or modification. That is to say, doing what is right
and doing it right pose entirely different challenges.

Those who share my high regard for the material in this
volume are urged to check out George Anders’ recently published book, The Rare
Find: Spotting Exceptional Talent Before Everyone Else, as well as Dean
Spitzer’s Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure
and Drive Organizational Success, and Enterprise Architecture As Strategy:
Creating a Foundation for Business Execution co-authored by Jeanne R. Ross,
Peter Weill, and David C. Robertson.

Editor's note: This review was written by Robert Morris and has been published with his permission.Like what you read? Subscribe to the SFRB's free daily email notice so you can be up-to-date on our latest articles. Scroll up this page to the sign-up field on your right.